Telford Street is being
rebuilt on one side in a development to see 16 new houses as part of a
project run by Pentland Housing.
the project is part of a larger re-development of lower Pulteney.
The Telford Street project runs round into Miller Street and the old NOSWA
building has been demolished and is being replaced with new houses.

12 March 05Telford Street Project Wins Award For Quality &
Planning The
Telford St Development Lower Pulteneytown, yesterday won the Award for
Outstanding Performance and Quality in Development on the Ground. This is
a tremendous achievement and reflects the level of community involvement
in the whole project from the workings of the Wick Project to the
involvement of the Wick Youth club.

The judges comments were, "We visited Lower
Pulteneytown and were extremely impressed with the design quality of this
project. The nominees demonstrated clear vision and had planned what they
wanted to achieve in Lower Pulteneytown before finance was secured. They
displayed good communication links with stakeholders and we recognise that
the proposals were delivered on time. The project has raised awareness of
what can be achieved and has given hope to the community that other parts
of the area can be regenerated in this way. We wish them every success in
their wider regeneration projects in Lower Pulteneytown. Due to the
outstanding quality of design, details, vision and community and
stakeholder working, an Award is recommended."

BBC Radio Scotland presenter Lesley Riddoch
will tomorrow (Friday 21 May 2004) officially open a joint housing and
community arts development in Lower Pulteneytown, Wick.

The £1.5 million project, supported by
Executive agency Communities Scotland has provided 16 new affordable homes
for the town enhanced by a community arts project. This transformed the
former herring gutting and curing houses of Telford and Miller Streets,
which had lain derelict. The buildings were made famous by Scots engineer,
Thomas Telford who created the model town, harbour and the world’s first
industrial estate in Wick in 1811.

Pentland Housing Association developed the
houses, as part of the Lower Pulteneytown Regeneration Programme, with
funding of over £960,000 from Communities Scotland. Additional funding of
almost £400,000 came from the Lower Pulteneytown Townscape Heritage
Initiative; £38,000 was raised by a consortium to fund a new electricity
substation to serve the area, and Pentland Housing Association provided
the balance of £190,000 through a loan from the Dunfermline Building
Society.

At the ceremony the housing development will
also receive a ‘Secured by Design’ award from the Northern Constabulary.
‘Secured by Design’ is a national police initiative encouraging the
building industry to adopt crime prevention methods at the design stage.
Wick community safety officer, Lisa Foulis, will be presenting the award
to Pentland Housing Association Chairman, Kenny Green.

The community arts element of the housing
development – ‘New Media Meets Old’- was commissioned by Wick Youth Club
and developed by artist, Sue Jane Taylor. This involved local young people
in a writer’s workshop, a tin smith workshop and the sourcing of images
from the surrounding coastal waters.

Communities Scotland Highlands and Islands
area director, David Nicol, said: “This is a significant stage in the
regeneration of Lower Pulteneytown and congratulations to all who have
worked so hard to bring it to completion. As an Executive agency,
Communities Scotland is committed to working in partnership to provide
safe, strong communities and the physical improvement of this area will be
of benefit to the whole community for many years to come. It will of
course also bring much needed new affordable housing to the area.”

Director of Pentland Housing Association,
Andi Wakeman, said: “Lower Pulteneytown has long suffered from the
dereliction of buildings in this once thriving community. We hope that our
scheme will show what can be done to brighten the area while preserving
Telford’s original concepts, and will help encourage others to make use of
the grants available to improve their homes and businesses. The houses
provide much needed affordable rented accommodation, and include larger
family houses which are in very short supply. A family resource centre is
planned at the back of the site, which will complement the housing and
provide a further service to local residents.”

Sue Jane Taylor, lead artist for the Lower
Pulteneytown regeneration project, added:
“Successful community public art can be difficult to achieve as not only
must there be enthusiasm but also the commitment to follow it through. But
I found that the people of Wick are proud of their heritage and want a
fresh new start for their town. This exciting project is the first of many
to put Wick firmly on the map once again, and not for fish but for
innovative public art.”

Following the opening ceremony, Lesley
Riddoch will be broadcasting her daily lunchtime show on BBC Radio
Scotland live from Wick, between 12 and 2pm from Safeways Car Park at
riverside, Wick

The Arts Project At Telford StreetThe arts project had three aspects and, using the creative skills of
local young people, drew on the town’s history, culture and natural
environment for inspiration.

A writer’s workshop looked into past and
contemporary Caithness dialect, as well as the writings of well-known
authors about the area. Selected quotes, phrases and words have been
sandblasted on to Telford and Miller Streets’ flagstone walls;

Tin smith workshops using inspiration from
the town’s old fish trade enabled templates to be made for punchwork on
the copper cladding for the old fish hatches in both streets; and

With the help of the Far North Aqua Club, and
a state of the art underwater camera, six 14-25-year-olds trained in deep
sea diving and sourced images from under the surrounding coastal waters.
Two sites within the building have been selected for projections of the
images, with cabling wired up to the local street lighting, a plasma
screen and a projector. A large neon light image will also be fixed to the
west harbour tower and lit up at special times of year. This aspect of the
project has involved a four-month posting of a ‘new media’ artist, and a
six-month posting for a trainee to assist with both this project and
future community public art projects.

As part of the project a ‘new media’ kit,
which includes a high spec computer for video editing and a
semi-professional video camera, is now permanently sited at Wick Youth
Club for use in future community or individual arts projects.